Disconnectible fan for automobiles



J. 'EJJOHNSON, DISCONNECTIBLE FAN FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION FILEDGCT.8|1920.

1,427, 7, Patented Aug. 29,- 1922.

a e/760.! -%Z77F6017 401 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN E. JOHNSON, OF DE KAIJB, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO JOHNSON FAN 00., OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A COPARTNERSHIP COMPOSED OF C. O. NELSON, JOHN E.

JOHNSON, AND ERNEST E. JOHNSON.

DISGONNECTIBLE FAN FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed October 8,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN E. JOHNSON,

. citizen of the United States, residing at De Kalb, Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in a Disconnectible Fan forAutomobile; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact'description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to mechanism for forcmg air through the radiatorsof automobiles so as to cool these radiators and maintain them in properoperative condition. Heretofore, it has been customary to providesuction fans for this purpose and to have the same continuouslyconnected to the engine, so that they will be operative at all timeswhen the engine is running unless the fan belt is manually detached. Inpractice, such a continuously operating fan is highly desirable in warmweather, but is undesirable in cold weather and in certain seasons isonly intermittently to be desired. For example, on a chilly day, the useof the fan when the engine is firststarted will tend to cool the engineunduly, thereby seriously interfering with its efliciency, although theoperation of the fan may be advisable after the engine has been runningfor a length of time suflicient to cause these metal casing portions tobecome well heated. Consequently, the continuously operative drvingconnection between the air propelling fan and the engine as heretoforeemployed is undesirable under such conditions, and the same applies alsoat times where there are decided changes in temperature, as for examplewhen a cool night follows a hot day.

My invention aims toovercome this obj ection to be continuous operationof the radiator-cooling fan by providing a fan which can readily becontrolled as to its operation by the driver of the automobile, forwhich purpose I preferably aim to provide a simple construction whichcan readily be substituted for the ordinary fan on a standard automobileand which can be controlled in operation by the driver of the automobilewithout havin the latter leave this seat. While the appliance of myinvention may be adapted with substantially equal facility andsubstantially equal advantages to widely varying types of automobiles,it is particu- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

1920. Serial No. 415,682.

, running.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged central and longitudinal section through thedisconnectible driving arrangement for the fan.

In the embodiment of the drawings, the fan 1 is freely rotatable on ashaft 2 which is fast on the usual fan-supporting standard 3 locatedimmediately in front of the engine 4. Adjacent to this standard, theshaft 2 has a pulley 5 which also is freely rotatable on the shaft 2 andwhich is driven through the usual fan belt 6 from the shaft of theengine. The pulley 5 has fast upon it a bushing 7 equipped with chuckjaws 8 which normally interlock with jaws 9 on a collar 10, the lattercollar being integral with the hub to which the blades of the fan 1 arefastened. The chuck jaws 8 and 9 arenormally forced into interlockingrelation with each other by a spring 11 interposed between the hub 10and the washer 12 which is kept from sliding towards the free end of theshaft by any suitable means, as for example by hearing against a springcotter 13 which extends through a transverse bore in the shaft 2adjacent to the free end of the latter. The hub 10 has a shoulderformation 14 facing the pulley 5, and this shoulder 14 is continuouslyengaged by the tips of the prongs of a fork 15 which is at the lower endofa rocking lever 16. This lever is pivoted on a bracket 17 bolted tothe engine (desirably by one of the same bolts 18 which connect the topwater connection to the casing of the engine) and the upper end of therocking lever 16 is connected by a rod 19 with a handle 20 extendingthrough a perforation in the dash board 21 and having a ring 22 on thedrivers side of the dash board, so that the driver of the automobile canreadily pull the rod 19 toward himself by grasping this the fan rotatesin unison with the pulley and consequently exerts its cooling effect.

However, by pulling the ring of the handle 22 towards him, the driver ofthe automobile can readily rock the lever 16 so that the fork tips 15will slide the hub 10 of the fan towards the right in Fig. 1, therebymoving the clutch jaws 8 and 9 out of engagement or into thedisconnected position of Fig. 2. Then the driver can latch the parts inthis position by letting the forwardly directed shoulder 23 on thelatching member 20 snap into engagement with the rear of the dash board.By so doing, he can hold the fan out of operation for any desired lengthof time, the pulley 5 being prevented from crawling along the shaft 2 bythe engagement of a forwardly directed shoulder 24 in the bore of thispulley with a corresponding rearwardly glrirected shoulder on the shaft2, as shown in With the parts thus arranged, it will be evident that theoperation of the fan is entirely under the control of the driver of thevehicle, so that he can connect or disconnect the same instantly,thereby securing the full benefit of the fan action whenever it isdesirable to profit by the cooling action of the forcibly propelled air,but without suffering at any time by a continued operation of the fanwhen this is not desirable. However, while I have heretofore illustratedand described my invention in a highly desirable embodiment suitable foruse on a particular type of automobile and including certain simplemeans for supporting the rocking lever and for effecting the latchingand unlatching, I do not wish to be limited to these or other detailshere disclosed. Obviously, numerous alterations in both the constructionand arrangement could be made without departing from the spirit of myinvention or from the appended claims. So also,

I do not wish to be limited to the use of my invention in the particularlocation as here illustrated with respect to the automobile engine, norin connection with any particular make of vehicle.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a combination with the bolted top water connection of the enginecasing and the radiator cooling fan and hub of an. automobile, astationary shaft on which the fan hub is freely rotatable, an enginedriven pulley freely rotatable on the shaft, the fan hub and pulleyhaving normally interlocked, clutch faces, a spring on the outer end ofthe shaft engaging the fan hub for normally holding the clutch facesinterlocked, a bracket apertured to receive said bolt of the waterconnection for affixingsame to the engine casing and having a dependingpart, a lever pivoted between its ends to the depending part of thebracket and having its lower end arranged in front of the pulley andstraddling the fan hub for sliding same on the shaft, the upper end ofthe lever extending above the water connection, and means connected tothe upper end of the lever and to the dashboard for operating the lever.

2. In combination with the radiator cooling fan and hub of anautomobile, a stationary shaft on which the fan hub is freely rotatable,an engine driven pulley freely rotatable on the shaft, the fan hub andpulley having normally clutched clutch faces, a spring on the shaft fornormally holding the clutch faces in clutched relation, a bracket,

means to secure the bracket to the engine casing, a lever pivotedbetween its ends to the bracket and having one end engaged with the fanhub so as to slide the latter onthe shaft, and means to operate thelever connected to the opposite end thereof.

3. In a combination with the bolted top water connection of the enginecasing and the radiator cooling fan andhub of an automobile, astationary shaft on which the fan hub is freely rotatable, an enginedriven pulley freely rotatable on the shaft, a fan hub and pulley havingnormally interlocked clutch faces, a spring on the outer end of theshaft engaging the fan hub for normally holding the clutch facesinterlocked, a bracket apertured to receive said bolt of the waterconnection for afiixing same to the engine casing, means on the bracketconnected to the fan hub for sliding same on the A shaft and means toactuate said last named means.

